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Accountant Charged with Conspiring to Defraud the IRS

BOSTON – John H. Nardozzi, a certified public accountant, was charged in an indictment unsealed today with assisting former State Senator Brian Joyce with preparing and filing false income tax returns.

Nardozzi, 66, of Waltham, was indicted on one count of conspiring to defraud the IRS and eight counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. Nardozzi will appear this afternoon in federal court in Worcester.

The indictment alleges that Nardozzi, Joyce’s accountant, secretly conspired with Joyce and others to defraud the IRS for tax years 2011 to 2014 by:

Fraudulently inflating self-employment income for Joyce and his spouse, by more than $2 million in order to maximize retirement plan contributions and falsely reduce taxable personal income;

Fraudulently reporting a rollover of more than $400,000 in retirement savings when, in fact, it was a taxable event subject to early withdrawal penalties;

Fraudulently deducting a corporate dividend of approximately $56,000 as a “legal expense” attributable to Joyce in order to falsely reduce the taxable income of BAJPC; and

Fraudulently omitting a dividend of approximately $100,000 from Joyce’s personal tax return in order to reduce Joyce’s taxable income.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, the indictment also alleges that Nardozzi aided and assisted Joyce in preparing and filing false corporate and personal income tax returns between 2011 and 2014.

The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return provides for a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $100,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William F. Bloomer and Dustin Chao of Lelling’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.